I Do
by BestDayNever
Summary: Ever since his best friend passed away, Vlad has visited Henry's grave every day for the last three years to talk to him. Tonight, however, Vlad has something special planned.


I Do

BestDayNever

Vlad grumbled as he looked in the mirror, trying to fix a piece of hair that refused to work with him. The vampire was overall displeased with his appearance, his hair in total was a mess and longer than usual from failing to get a haircut. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to be growing darker by the minute, sticking out greatly against his pale skin. He hated how he looked, and decided to make himself at least a bit more presentable for what he was going to do later. He knew the person he was going to see wouldn't care what he looked like, even if he looked like he had been hit by a truck.

After about two hours of fixing himself up to make himself look perfect, Vlad was finally satisfied and made sure he had everything he needed with him. Cell phone, keys, money, and... OH! One more very important thing…

The vampire quickly ran to his dresser and dug around for the small box. He smiled in triumph when he found it and mentally berated himself for almost forgetting something so _important_. He'd been saving up for almost 8 months to buy this.

Vlad ran to his car and glanced quickly at his watch. It was almost 7:00 and the sun would be setting soon—he wanted to get there to see _him_ right when the sun was about to set. It was the perfect moment to do something like this. He got into his car and drove to the grocery store to pick up a single rose before driving almost past the speed limit to get to his destination. He cursed as he saw the sun was almost down and almost missed his turn into the parking lot of the place. He parked the car and checked himself one more time, making sure his dress shirt was straight and his hair was nice before getting out of the car and walking to the meeting place. The setting sun cast a soft glow over the near deserted area and every step that Vlad took, the dead leaves of the closing autumn crunched under his feet.

Vlad's heart was pounding as he tightly gripped the rose and the small box in his hand. He never felt as nervous as he did now, and felt stupid. He knew he shouldn't feel nervous or scared about what he was going to do, because he _knew_ what the others reaction would be. He knew what _his _answer would be to the question Vlad was about to ask him. But still, Vlad couldn't help but feel his palms sweat and his stomach twist. He felt his eyes prickle but he painfully swallowed them along with the growing lump in his throat.

He paused when he finally arrived at the right tombstone and looked down at the simple stone.

_Henry McMillan__  
><em>_1992 - 2013_

Gently, he ran his fingertips over the name of his best friend and crouched down in front of it. He tried to say something but for a few moments couldn't even find his voice. When he finally did, the words came out in a hoarse croak.

"It's been a while since I saw you." Blushing in embarrassment at his voice crack, Vlad cleared his throat before speaking again.

"Sorry about that, I haven't talked in a while really; I almost forgot what my voice sounded like." Vlad laughed bitterly to himself. He wasn't used to hearing only his laughter, usually there was another one accompanying him. These days, the sound of laughter was a foreign sound and Vlad couldn't remember the last time he had done so.

"Sorry I don't look like my usual self," he continued, twirling the rose stem in his hand. "It's been hard to sleep; the house is too quiet with you not there. And sorry I haven't been able to come in a long time—thing have been kind of rough lately. Besides, I think the workers here were starting to get annoyed by me." Vlad remembered being woken up by one of the graveyard keepers after he fell asleep sitting next to the tombstone. Henry probably would have laughed at him, if he could and Vlad took a moment to close his eyes and imagine his beloved's laugh ringing through his ears.

"So...how is it up there?" he asked after a moment, glancing up at the darkening sky. Did you manage to find a cute girl up there? You never could get one down here." Vlad almost started crying when he remembered the times he would tease the other about his inability to keep a steady relationship and how he would have that cute blush on his face as he tried to think of something witty to say in retort. He tried to laugh it off, but even that couldn't keep the tears from forming in his eyes.

"You know...I bet all the angels up there are jealous of your eyes..." Vlad felt tears slide down his cheeks as he remembered those deep blue eyes looking at him, laughing with him, crying with him, _begging_him to realize how he felt about the other before it was too late. But it was too late before Vlad realized about how Henry really felt about him. Far, far too late.

"Everyone was crying when they found out, they wanted to believe it was just some cruel joke. Hell, _I_ wanted to believe it was some cruel joke." Vlad wiped some of the tears from his face and looked to see the sun almost down.

"I already told you all of this stuff before, though. I guess why you're wondering why I'm here now though, and why I'm dressed like those Banana Republic models you used to make fun of." Vlad stood up and gripped the rose and box in his hand, inhaling in the crisp air and slowly exhaling.

"Be grateful, alright, 'cause it took me two hours to make myself presentable. God knows I looked like the walking dead before this." He smiled weakly, trying to sound happy and strong.

"Do you remember what today is?" Vlad paused, though he knew no one would answer, "Today was the day we met all those years ago in elementary school." Vlad remembered the day all too clearly. "You were the kid who never shut up about dinosaurs and every day you would tell me about a different one. I didn't even like dinosaurs, but I listened anyways." A small laugh escaped his lips and he glanced down at the rose in his hands, one of his tears landing and sliding off of one of the rich, red petals.

"Sometimes I wish we never met that day… That way, I would probably have never gotten close to you, and I wouldn't feel like my heart was gone from my chest ever since you left..." Vlad's voice began to quiver and his lower lip trembled as he spoke his next words.

"Why didn't you ever tell me? Why didn't you ever say anything? Were you planning to just keep it to yourself until you died? Isn't that a bit selfish!" Tears were falling freely now as he remembered the day after the funeral. He remembered looking through Henry's things and finding his journal, finding all his private love letters to Vlad, letters he never intended for him to see.

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Vlad looked down at the tombstone, then at the sunset.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Vlad remembered how he used to watch sunsets with Henry after a long day and staying late at the beach to watch the sun disappear behind the blue sea. He then remembered why he was here again and cleared his throat.

"Look, I know you hated it when I used to waste money on gifts. B-but, what I have here isn't just a normal present." Vlad's hand shook as he opened the box and took out a small ring.

"I know you would kill me if you found out I spent so much money on such a small thing but, call me old fashioned, I've always wanted to this—to you."

Vlad got down on one knee and looked at the tomb stone with his best friend's name on it.

"The way we were before, we were practically married but, at least this way, I can make it official." Vlad took a deep breath.

"Henry McMillan, will you marry me?" Vlad put the ring and rose down on top of the grave.

"I know you can't answer me anymore, and I know you can't really wear your ring, but at least this way..."

_At least this way, I can pretend that you're wearing it. I can pretend you said yes. I can pretend that that you're excited to marry me. And most of all..._

"I can pretend I wasn't stupid enough to not realize soon enough, and that we were actually going to be together like this..."

Vlad dropped down and sobbed to himself and before he realized it, the sun had set, and the sky was dark. He felt a raindrop fall on his head and cursed as a sudden wave of rain fall over him. He stood up before running to his car. He looked behind him at the grave one more time before turning away.

It was already too dark to see anything clearly, and the rain made things worse, so Vlad wasn't able to see a small piece of paper that fell down from the sky and on top of the ring on the grave.

_**"I do."**_


End file.
